CONCORD -- After the dozen or so flying manhugs he threw and caught, after a delayed post-game address while he tried to muster words through his feelings of joy, Springfield coach Tom Kline pinpointed to his players exactly what they had just accomplished...

Which was exactly what he'd expected, of course.

"We were under the radar, but for teams to actually take us seriously we needed a moment like this; we needed a game like this," Kline said Friday night after his Cougars stunned Garnet Valley 35-25. "All week people would talk to us about for a win, it would have to be such an upset. But for us, it really didn't feel that way. We prepared for this team."

There was everything to indicate that, from the 54-yard touchdown run quarterback Cameron Durham started the game with, to the 41-yard touchdown run he had in the third quarter to change the momentum, to the 61-yard touchdown run he essentially finished off the Jaguars with late in the fourth quarter.

Then there was the way the Cougars (4-1, 4-0 Central League) forced the Jaguars into a seemingly endless series of mistakes, creating turnovers, repeatedly blocking extra points, surviving Garnet Valley's predictable second-half surge ... and in the end, holding strong for an opponent's celebration rarely seen in these parts.

If that summation wasn't wordy enough ...

"We turned the ball over, we don't score from the 1-yard line, we came in knowing we had to take away the big play and we didn't do that," Jaguars coach Mike Ricci said. "I give all the credit in the world to Springfield. They were prepared and I thought they outplayed us and I thought they absolutely deserved to win. They were exactly what we thought they were -- a good team that got after it."

Of course, Springfield was just that against Garnet Valley last Oct. 21. In a battle for the league lead, the Jaguars staged a late rally to overcome the Cougars 42-41. For a while, this one had the makings of a repeat.

After Garnet Valley opened the game with an unsuccessful on-side kick, Durham took the first snap, bootlegged left and made a cut into the clear en route to a 7-0 lead. A muffed punt then set up another Springfield chance, and Mike Dougherty plowed it in from the 1 for a fast 14-0 lead.

After the Jags failed on fourth down two straight possessions, the Cougars could have increased the lead, but fumbled away that chance on the first of several miscues between center and quarterback (or holder) for both teams on the night. There were more bad snaps than a box of soggy Rice Krispies.

Before the half, Garnet Valley fumbled away a scoring chance in the red zone, then after a weird bounce that turned into a 2-yard Springfield punt, the Jags had the ball right back deep in Springfield territory ... only to turn it over on downs inside the 5.

That trend changed in the third as quarterback Ryan Corkery started to run. He drove the Jags down to another fourth down ... only this time a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jordyn Bennett halved the lead.

Corkery soon trekked in from 13 yards out, but a blocked PAT kept Springfield in front. But the Cougars weren't feeling comfortable.

"I think our kids might have been thinking a little bit about last year, when they came back on us," Kline said. "But you know what? We have a different mentality right now."

"We had some adversities or whatever, but we came through and pulled it out," Durham said. "It was Plus-2, which means going above and beyond, making plays out of nothing. I made a hundred mistakes on the field tonight, but I always give a Plus-2 effort. So if I make a mistake I'll get that extra yard."

He got 198 of those extras on the ground, including the 41-yarder that posted a 21-13 lead, then the 61-yarder that put the Cougars up by 35-25. Both of those touchdowns negated Garnet Valley scores -- including a brilliant catch by Jags receiver Wellington Zaza for a 42-yard scoring bomb on fourth down. But mistakes on extra points followed all of those Garnet Valley TDs in the second half.

That may have sapped some momentum, but between Durham and the way Springfield's defense stepped up late in the fourth quarter, this Cougars win indeed was well-earned. And in case you didn't notice...

"I just couldn't be happier," Kline said. "I just feel so good because all along we've been preaching to the kids about believing in the program, believing in what we're doing and promising to the kids that it's going to work out. Well, tonight it worked out."